CNMC 2009 Day 1

The first day of my adventure is drawing to a close and it was a great one! I gave myself a good amount of time in the morning to make sure I would have enough time to get myself ready and do a few things around the house before leaving. At 8:30ish I decided to head outside and wait for my airport shuttle because my flat was just too freaking hot! At 8:45 the shuttle arrived (ahead of schedule) and since I am so close to the airport, by 9 a.m. I was there. I searched for where to check-in for Northwest and after walking up and down the area a few times without seeing it, I asked an employee who informed me that it was with Delta. The line was very long and once I got further up I was directed to another line to check in on a kiosk. I printed my boarding pass and was on my way. I had no problems with security and by 9:40 was at the gate – wow!

This left roughly an hour to sit and wait to board, which was no problem since I had my iPod and book. At 11:05 we left for Memphis and the flight was good. After landing, there was a small delay getting off the plane, but we did get off. I stopped in the airport for food and paid over $9 for a sandwich and apple! That morning I also paid an outrageous amount for water.

At 1:35 I boarded my second flight to San Antonio. That was also a flight with no problems, although it was a much smaller plane and we were only given one snack, whereas the other flight had two. Overall, no a good eating day, but it was to be expected. After the flight, I went outside to catch a cab to the hotel and spent way more than expected to get there. But the bonus was that it was a Prius cab, so it made it all the better! 🙂

Once I got to the hotel, the real adventure began. I checked into the hotel and took my bag to the room. The next step was to find my roommate, Inge, who had arrived in the morning and was somewhere in the area. The ultimate question was where? I spent 45 minutes wandering around, constantly checking Twitter and Plurk for some indication of where she would be. I finally sent out a Plurk update that said “I will offer a reward to anyone who can tell me where @Taquoriaan is” which led to finally finding her and the rest of the group in the lobby.

Finally meeting people that you have met online or heard on a podcast is truly a surreal experience. In the lobby I found Inge, Lisa Hendey, Captain Jeff and Fr. Roderick! They led me to Fr. Roderick’s swanky suite where Inge’s luggage was and I then met David, Katherine and Luke Sweeney!

After we got settled in, Inge and I walked the River Walk for quite a while and stopped in a pub for a drink (mine was water, thank you very much). We both snapped photos along our walk. We headed back to the room for a while and learned where the rest of the group was via Plurk. We met them at the hotel’s social hour for snacks and drinks. After, we picked up Captain Jeff at Fr. Roderick’s room (he was planning how Mac and Katherine were to come) and then eventually headed out to dinner. I snapped some photos of the view from Father’s veranda, which was stunning!

Dinner was not until 9:30 p.m., which was difficult since I had lunch at 1:30. I did get popcorn at the hotel, so I wasn’t famished. I had some delicious crab enchiladas and there was also bread, chips and guacamole that was made by the table. After dinner we headed back to the hotel, said good night to each other and went to our respective rooms.

What an extensive first day! I had a great one, took lots of photos, met some amazing people and it was awesome. Tomorrow I would like to see some of the sites in town, but it depends on what others want to do. Many others arrive tomorrow and I can’t wait to meet them all. I also love that I can play on Inge’s MacBook, making blogging and other things much easier. It is now very late and I should go to bed. I probably won’t upload my photos until I get back, but we’ll see what happens.

Also en route today, I heard from my insurance company. They appraised the damage and Toyota sent the car over to their body shop. I told them to go ahead with the repairs, and they predict to have it done by Monday! It’ll cost a lot from me to get it done (minus the deductible), but it’ll be fixed.

It was a great day and I can’t wait to meet my other friends/podcasters and have the rest of this adventure! 🙂

Lisa Hendey posted her photos after the weekend, so here are two from Thursday’s dinner: